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RUSSIAN PRIME MINISTER Vladimir
Putin has proposed that ex-Soviet states form a “Eurasian
Union” from next year, which would aim to encourage a higher
level of economic integration based on trade liberalization
between countries.

Putin wrote an article outlining his proposal which was published
in the daily newspaper Izvestia. He insisted that he was
not suggesting some kind of re-formation of the Soviet Union,
saying that such a move would be “naive”.

He said that the Eurasian Union would seek economic integration
with the European Union,
Bloomberg reports.

The announcement regarding the Putin’s presidential ambitions was
met with some high-profile and public resistance: Finance
Minister
Alexei Kudrin was asked to resign after saying that he would
not continue to serve in Cabinet if Putin returned as President.

Kudrin has been widely credited with safeguarding the country’s
fragile economy during his time in office, and concerns have been
raised about the possible impact his leaving will have.

The proposal comes as Russia nears the end of 18 years of
membership negotiations with the World Trade
Organization, Reuters
reports.